


This Is Different

by necromantrix



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 11:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8400214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/necromantrix/pseuds/necromantrix
Summary: Kravitz discusses things with the Raven Queen. Taako makes a call at an inopportune time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on this site, and I'll be honest: I did not expect it to be for this fandom, but here we are.

               It was poker night.

               This would normally bring to mind a wide variety of situations depending on who reads the sentence, but none would be correct. This was poker night with the Raven Queen, the goddess of the normal progression of life and death.

               This poker night was an elegant affair for two people. The room was well-lit despite being a dark grey and it was seemingly endless except for a door at the end of a walkway coming down from the raised table. At this table sat two figures. One was the Raven Queen herself, resplendent in black and feathers, hovering where a seat would be holding her. Her hand of cards was levitated before her, and she merely had to gesture to return or draw or to move her chips (and these were no normal chips—they were all colors and none at once, and they seemed to glow). She was a goddess, after all.

               Sitting on the other side of the table was a dark (both in coloring and in dress), handsome man, his cards held securely in one hand. He didn’t have the grace of seemingly endless magic to assist him. This man was Kravitz, her favored bounty hunter, often referred to as Death or the Grim Reaper.

               The two were playing poker, and they were discussing things. They were discussing his work, her work, the status of everything that she was at liberty to tell him.

               There was a natural lull in the conversation during which both examined their cards, her wrist flicking gently to discard and then draw two to replace them. “You’re keeping something from me, Kravitz.” Her tone wasn’t accusatory by any means—it was merely an observation. She probably required none of her abilities to see that, either; he had been working for her for a long, _long_ time, and he was her favorite, and so naturally she would be able to read him well.

               Still, that didn’t stop it from being a surprise. “I, uh, I…” He discarded a single card and drew another before sighing. “I’m—I’m not hiding anything from you, my Queen,” he said, still recovering from his shock. “I just… I don’t know, uh, I don’t know how to explain it.”

               “Try.” With a single movement of her elegant fingers—everything about her was elegant, and that was something the reaper admired about her—the fan of her cards closed into a neat stack.

               He picked up his wine glass and sipped at it, trying to figure out what to say before he began to speak. “Those three—three adventurers,” he began slowly. “The, uh, the ones with the high—the high death count that they, um, that they don’t seem to recall. Like, at all.”

               “Yes. I recall your run-in with them. You were on the Miller bounty, weren’t you?” He nodded, and she seemed to ponder something for a moment as he set his own cards in a neat stack on the table. “It’s the elven wizard. Isn’t it?” Again, he was caught off-guard, and she smiled gently. “Lucky guess, and the fact that you drew his file first and had it out the longest. I haven’t been spying on you, Kravitz.”

               Kravitz did his best to maintain his composure and his more human form in the face of this questioning. “Yes, I, ah, I… went _out_ with him, to discuss some things. About their death—the amount of times they’ve died and… everything else surrounding them, at least.” He wasn’t sure what else to disclose with her. He trusted her completely, but his own emotions were a confusing mess. After all, hadn’t _he_ been the one to bring up seeing Taako again? Hadn’t _he_ been the one to allow emotions to dictate the bending of rules when Taako was involved? What could he tell her when he didn’t even know what he felt and why?

               She laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them as she put her elbows on the table, listening to him with a small smile. “I see. Have you wondered why you haven’t had a contract on those three? Of course, you would have been rewarded for bringing them in if you had, but there hasn’t been an open contract on them. Have you considered why that is?”

               “I _have_ considered it, but the, uh, the only thing—the only reason I can suspect would be that they’re loyal to… they follow Istus.”

               “Close, but no. That’s a recent development, and we’ve known about their death count situation for some time now. There are… _forces_ at work here, Kravitz, forces that Istus and I can see but we cannot read. We know they’re there, but we cannot know what they will do or what they have done. These boys, these three adventurers, they’re entwined in that and we aren’t sure how.”

               The reaper’s mind went back to after the date, when that flare had been launched into the air and Taako had mentioned that the Umbra Staff had tried to kill him. He hadn’t considered it much at the time, having been too concerned with the presence of a powerful lich, but looking back on it he should have thought more of it. The presence of a lich, too… The Raven Queen was right. There _were_ powerful forces at work here and something he registered as dread sat heavy in his stomach.

               It took him a moment to figure out why that dread was there, and when he finally realized what the reason was, the dread only got worse: Taako. Taako was involved, and so were Taako’s friends, and if any of them got hurt… Kravitz’ feelings were ambivalent towards the other two except for the knowledge that anything happening to them would hurt Taako, but that didn’t lessen the dread.

               “What’s the… Is there a plan?”

               She shook her head. “Sadly, no. All we can do is wait to see how things play out.”

               Suddenly a muffled voice broke through the peace of the room. “Ah, hey, Krav, my man. You there?” The voice was coming from Kravitz’ pants pocket, and he belatedly remembered the Stone of Farspeech kept there. He felt his corporeal form flick in and out as he fumbled with his pocket to remove the glowing stone.

               “One, uh, one moment, Taako,” he hissed into it. He was pretty sure this was breaking a rule in some way, having an open line of communication with someone not from this plane.

               “Take your time, my dude. I ain’t doing shit right now.”

               The Raven Queen laughed lightly, her dark eyes soft. “Go on. This game will still be here.” And it had been for countless years, neither one of them having got the edge and then the victory over the other yet.

               Kravitz stood and bowed politely to excuse himself, turning to walk down the short set of stairs. He stopped on the walkway towards the door as she said his name, turning to look at her. “Yes, my Queen?”

               “Be careful, Kravitz.” Her smile had faded, and now there was something sullen and serious about her expression. “These forces _are_ powerful and they are most likely dangerous. The choices you make are up to you, but be careful. All choices have consequences and all actions come at a price.”

               Her words sat heavy on the air for a moment before he nodded once, unsure what to say in response. “I will be. I promise,” he told her before turning to the door. Turning the handle, he stepped through.

               She watched him go with a sad expression, loathe to keep secrets from her favorite bounty hunter. Yes, these forces were powerful, and yes, they were dangerous. She had told him as much as she was at liberty to; she could only hope that all of them would make the best choices they could in the face of the coming danger.

 -

               He stepped through the door of his office, the door to the Raven Queen’s chambers serving a similar function to the rifts he could open at will. He unmuted the stone in his hand as he slumped into his chair. “Are you, uh, are you there, Taako?” It was the first time he had spoken to him since their date three days ago.

               “Mhm, yeah I am. Just gimme one sec.” There was the sound of a door slamming and something hitting something soft, and then Taako’s voice came over the line again, “Just had to get myself comfy and away from those prying assholes—there’s hardly _any_ privacy in this hellhole. Tragic, _I know._ ”

               Kravitz chuckled. “Certainly tragic. So… uh, what did you call for?”

               “Nothin’ much, just wanted to tell you I did enjoy the other night. In case I forgot, which is _totally_ likely. You also did kind of vanish rather abruptly—which was fine, no hard feelings, but I didn’t really get to tell you that it was a fun night.”

               He inwardly cursed himself for running off like that, but he also reminded himself that it was a necessity. Something dangerous had been sensed and he had left to see if he could find any information. He hadn’t, unfortunately, which made his leaving so abruptly feel like a waste. “Oh, I’m—I’m sorry about that, really, I am.”

               “Listen, my guy. _Listen._ I really don’t care that you fucked off like that. Really. I mean that. I mean, I do, but it doesn’t matter, you feel? Something came up, _whoopdee doo_. I’ve run off with less of a reason than that, but I also didn’t respond to messages. You at least _answered_ me, so at I’m not taking it personally.”

               “That’s a relief,” Kravitz admitted. He hesitated then. “I would, uh…. I think I’d like to, you know, see you again.” _Well, at least that’s out in the open._

               “Oh, yeah? Hm, I’d like that too. Maybe somewhere not so… Maybe somewhere a bit more casual, you feel me? Like, we can head down to Faerûn and see what’s going on in Neverwinter or something. I’m sure I can wing slipping away.”

               “That sounds—that sounds great.”

               “ _Aw_ , shit. Look, I’ll get back to you later about that, alright? Lucretia’s putting us through the fucking ringer. Nonstop training. It’s _miserable_ , let me tell you. I guess—I can’t help but _assume_ that the next mission’s gonna be killer. Hopefully not literally. Hopefully. Look, Krav, I gotta bounce. I’ll talk to you later, alright? _If_ I don’t get fucking pummeled.”

               “Of course. Uh, stay—stay safe, Taako. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

               “Adios!” came the call from the other end of the line, and then the office fell silent. Kravitz sighed and rested his head on his desk, wondering at the effect this elven wizard had on him. Even though his heart didn’t beat like a human’s—or an elf’s, or a dwarf’s, or anyone’s—something about Taako made him feel like his heart was racing. It made him feel like he was blushing even when he knew he wasn’t. It made it too easy to bend and break the rules he had upheld for so long. He’d made it such a long time as a bounty hunter without anything compromising his job like this. Sure, he’d been with mortals before, but that was purely physical. This was different, and it terrified him and thrilled him to the core.

               He was in _way_ too deep, and he didn’t think there was a way out now.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there you have it.


End file.
